NAIOP Community Enhancement Day

Connecting with our community goes beyond project design. As a firm, we donate hundreds of hours each year, both locally and internationally, to a variety of nonprofit organizations, serving on executive boards and committees, participating in mentor programs, hosting fundraisers, and getting our hands dirty at workday events!

One of our favorite annual events is NAIOP Washington’s Annual Community Enhancement project – where volunteers unite to tackle a large community project and complete it in a single day. For more than 20 years, we have been proud supporters of the Community Enhancement project, with Principal Garo Pehlivanian leading the way!

Once a volunteer, Garo now serves on NAIOP’s Community Enhancement planning committee as a project leader, helping execute public service events like the recent revitalization of St. Bernadette’s Parish School. “There’s just something so awesome about coming in and completely transforming a facility.” He describes the work that the committee performs as invaluable to the local community and personally rewarding to the volunteers, making it his mission to get others involved. Check out the video to see how excited the students were to see their revitalized school:

Ben Frizzell, Structural Project Manager, has been attending Community Enhancement events with Garo and the CPL team for the past seven years. He notes that while the events are a great way to mix and mingle with people in the AEC industry, the real reward is in seeing how the facilities are transformed. In recent years, Ben has even brought his son along to volunteer, a tradition he hopes to continue for years to come!

When asked about their most memorable community enhancement events, both noted instances of when our staff went “above and beyond” to get the job done. Ben focused on The Ryder Center, remembering that when push came to shove, he knew that they needed more efficient equipment to get the job done. So, Ben (being Ben), temporarily departed and came back with a new DR-Mower. Needless to say, the team finished the job in record time. Garo remembers a similar experience at Farmer Frog in 2017. His project was to create a trail that ran through the heavily-wooded site, a huge undertaking. Project facilitators were skeptical about it getting done, but the team knocked it out in two hours (one of Garo’s proudest moments as a Project Lead!).

While each Community Enhancement project has its own set of priorities, the main goal is to make a difference. Volunteers spend hours landscaping, painting, repaving, and creating signage – revitalizing and bringing new life to facilities the neighboring communities and students can be proud of.

We love participating in NAIOP’s Community Enhancement events and look forward to next year’s big overhaul! Learn more about NAIOP’s most recent efforts and upcoming events.